CIA Chief Resigns Over Affair

Petraeus Relationship With Biographer Surfaced After FBI Probe of His Email

ENLARGE

CIA Director David Petraeus, seen testifying on Capitol Hill in January 2012.
AFP/Getty Images

By

Devlin Barrett,

Siobhan Gorman and

Julian E. Barnes

Updated Nov. 11, 2012 10:18 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus resigned after a probe into whether someone else was using his email led to the discovery that he was having an extramarital affair, according to several people briefed on the matter.

CIA Director David Petraeus resigned as head of the intelligence agency, saying he "showed extremely poor judgment" by engaging in an extramarital affair. Neil King has details on The News Hub. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry into use of Mr. Petraeus's Gmail account led agents to believe the woman or someone close to her had sought access to his email, the people said.

Felled by Scandal

There is a long list of leaders felled by allegations of personal or ethical lapses in recent years, including the CIA's David Petraeus and Lockheed Martin's Christopher Kubasik.

Multiple officials familiar with the investigation identified the woman as the author of a biography on Mr. Petraeus.

It was the second national-security revelation to come to light in the two days after President Barack Obama won re-election. On Wednesday, the Pentagon acknowledged that Iranian fighter planes had fired on an unmanned reconnaissance drone five days before the election. Some Republicans on Capitol Hill were irked that the administration waited so long to make the incident public, while administration officials said they didn't talk about the attack because the drone program was secret.

Mr. Petraeus's resignation also comes at a time when the CIA is embroiled in controversy surrounding the events of Sept. 11, 2012, when four Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. After weeks of conflicting accounts of what happened that night, the CIA acknowledged it had played a central role in gathering intelligence and providing security for the U.S. presence there.

Mr. Petraeus was scheduled to testify before the Senate intelligence committee next week. Michael Morell, who was named acting director of the CIA after Mr. Petraeus's resignation, will appear instead.

The resignation, which stunned the nation's capital, represented a fall for a man who had been one of the most celebrated military leaders of his time, a four-star general credited with turning the tide in Iraq and reversing the Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan.

Administration officials said the White House was briefed on the affair Wednesday by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Mr. Obama was informed Thursday by his staff and met with Mr. Petraeus that day. Mr. Petraeus then offered to resign. The announcement came Friday afternoon.

In a statement to CIA employees, Mr. Petraeus said, "After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."

His wife, Holly, the daughter of a West Point superintendent, heads the office for service-member affairs in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency created by the 2010 financial-regulation law.

Multiple officials said Mr. Petraeus's affair was with Paula Broadwell, a West Point graduate who recently wrote a book on the retired general, "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus." Efforts to reach Ms. Broadwell were unsuccessful. A spokeswoman for her publisher, Penguin, did not immediately comment.

The computer-security investigation—which raised questions about a potential compromise to national security—points to one reason Mr. Petraeus and the White House decided he couldn't remain in the senior intelligence position. An extramarital affair has significant implications for an official in a highly sensitive post, because it can open an official to blackmail. Security officials are sensitive to misuse of personal email accounts—not only official accounts—because there have been multiple instances of foreign hackers targeting personal emails.

Leading contenders to succeed Mr. Petraeus include Mr. Morell and Pentagon intelligence chief Michael Vickers. Another possibility, if Mr. Obama seeks to reach across the aisle, is Rep. Michael Rogers (R., Mich.), chairman of the House intelligence committee.

More

One former CIA official called Mr. Morell an "odds-on favorite," adding that "he would bring over three decades of experience inside the agency. He's the consummate straight shooter. He's very well liked inside the agency. He has enormous street cred on Capitol Hill. He projects an image of calm."

The computer investigation began late this spring, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Mr. Petraeus wasn't interviewed by the FBI until recently.

While Mr. Petraeus was still a general, he had email exchanges with the woman, but there wasn't a physical relationship, the person said. The affair began after Mr. Petraeus retired from the Army in August 2011 and ended months ago, the person said.

A succession of official announcements began Friday shortly before 3 p.m. with a statement from Mr. Clapper. "Dave's decision to step down represents the loss of one of our nation's most respected public servants," Mr. Clapper said. Minutes later, the CIA distributed Mr. Petraeus's announcement to agency employees.

The White House issued a statement from Mr. Obama praising Mr. Petraeus for his "extraordinary service to the United States for decades," and adding: "By any measure, through his lifetime of service, David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger."

Intelligence officials scrambled Friday afternoon to alert key members of Congress. Some received a call about an hour before the announcements from Deputy Director of National Intelligence Stephanie O'Sullivan. Other key congressional officials, including the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), weren't told in advance.

Sen. Feinstein called Mr. Petraeus's resignation "an enormous loss for our nation's intelligence community and for our country." She added, "I wish President Obama had not accepted this resignation, but I understand and respect the decision."

Simon Constable and Neil King discuss the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, and Alexandra Berzon looks at the problems facing Atlantic City after Hurricane Sandy. Photo: Reuters.

Rep. Rogers voiced appreciation for Mr. Petraeus's service. "His entire career has been spent defending and protecting the United States," he said. "I am confident the CIA will continue to successfully carry out its vital mission through this transition."

At the CIA, Mr. Petraeus kept a much lower profile than he did as a military officer, which was in accord with the administration's wishes. He rarely gave speeches and did not grant on-the-record interviews about his CIA duties.

His reputation inside Langley was that of a competent director, but one who did not seek to win over the workforce in the way some of his predecessors had.

He presided over a moderation of the CIA's controversial drone program to take into greater account diplomatic sensitivities, a shift that sometimes put him at odds with the head of the agency's Counterterrorism Center.

During his time at CIA, the agency, along with foreign intelligence services, thwarted a plot by al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate by infiltrating a component of the group.

Mr. Obama tapped Mr. Petraeus, a favorite of President George W. Bush, to serve as his top commander in Afghanistan after the abrupt resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal in 2010. Mr. Obama nominated him as CIA director in 2011. Messrs. Petraeus and Obama did not have the close chemistry that the president has with other top officials in his cabinet.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.